


Kitty Cat Chimera Cafe

by FullmetalSunshine (Baekhanded)



Series: Royed OTPoly [8]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Cat Cafés, Cat Ears, Cat/Human Hybrids, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, M/M, Nikko is also in this, Teasing, because I have an agenda now, cat chimera elrics, its a little dark at the beginning but it gets better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:07:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25873345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baekhanded/pseuds/FullmetalSunshine
Summary: Alphonse was not, by any means at all, a meddler, but he might just nudge in the right direction
Relationships: Alphonse Elric/Original Male Character(s), Edward Elric/Roy Mustang
Series: Royed OTPoly [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1814119
Comments: 2
Kudos: 44
Collections: RoyEd OTPoly 2020





	Kitty Cat Chimera Cafe

**Author's Note:**

> I pooped this out so fast im so sorry it's so bad but hey! I did it!!
> 
> Position name: Central HQ  
> Property name:The Canteen  
> Prompt: Write a coffee shop AU, with either Ed or Roy as baristas. Word count: 375-753  
> The non-barista character (either Ed or Roy) came into the coffee shop asking for a job. Word count: 947-2185  
> Use an outsider's POV. Max word count: 4102

There was little to be said about how his kind was treated in a city like Central. That is to say, there’s a  _ lot  _ to be said, but none of it was really kind, or what you would say in polite company. After the experimentation files got out and the experiments along with it, well there was one of two ways people looked at you. Distastefully, or lustfully.

That’s why, the moment they were free on their own, Al and his big brother hadn’t even bothered trying to  _ get _ a job, no, instead they  _ made _ a job. Or at least Edward had, for Al’s sake. He didn’t say how he got the money for the building, nothing Al could do would get him to say a word, but Al wasn’t a fool and Edward was a self sacrificing idiot.

Plus, he was always being told how pretty he was…

But that was in the past, now his brother could genuinely throw someone out of the front door with no complaints! They’d had their little two story building for a couple of years now, where they did their work below at ground level and their living a floor above! A lot had gone into it, more than it would have taken for anyone…. _ not  _ on the ‘chimera spectrum’. That’s to say, they weren’t fully a chimera, they couldn’t shift from human to something else, they weren’t a mashup of a bunch of different critters. It meant they had...traits. Al wasn’t really bothered with the traits they had gotten, but he was also very clearly biased on this front. 

Al wasn’t too bothered by that fact if he were honest, he’d  _ always  _ loved cats, now he just shared a little bit of DNA with them! Ears and tails! Enhanced senses and teeth and claws. (That he kept nicely filed down, thank you very much.) Both he and his brother had the features, so at least the experiments didn’t take their...siblingness away… But! They were both...cat...chimera while not being completely  _ chimera. _   


  
His brother knew everything there was to know about him. He knew he loved cats, knew he was a little afraid of being away from him now, he knew he’d always wanted to run a cafe. And somehow, somehow his wonderful big brother had combined it all. He had genuinely made all of Al’s dreams come true. 

Now they had a decently successful business. A true cat cafe! The only one like it in Central! One of the few successfully run businesses run by anyone from the Chimera Experiments. To this day they had only gotten one extra employee though, another experiment from the Drachman secret base.

Al thought it was nifty that he was a wolf! People didn’t tend to want to  _ work  _ with them, they just always wanted something. Luckily they were getting away with providing coffee, treats and stray cats! 

Edward was the resident barista, his coffee was next level even though he preferred tea. His attention to detail was unmatched even with metal limbs, delicacy was somehow his middle name! Al himself was usually the People Person, while Nikko, their wolfy chimera comrade was in the back, baking away. He made people nervous even though he was much more approachable and had a good handle on his emotions than Edward.

But his brother was pretty, and that...sadly sold. People liked to try and tame the golden kitten. 

Al and Nikko liked to make bets when a sleazeball came in. 

Today it was looking like another one of those days, it was busy and the strays (they were good strays!) wandering around gave a good sign whether or not a person was going to be a problem or not. They had avoided pretty much every single customer so far. 

Al was leaning in to Nikko’s side (he was absolutely not purring at all! Who said that?) and watching as his brother’s movements got more and more clipped and his smile more and more strained. Realistically there was nothing he could do. He could step in but then the customer would turn that energy onto him, and that would only make his brother’s agitation worse. Nikko could step in, but customers always got nasty around him. Their fear made them lash out, he still had a scar from one's ‘fear’. Alphonse was still silently boiling over that interaction...altercation. 

It was a good thing Nikko had the coolest head of them all.  _ It’s ‘cause i’m from Drachma, darling. _

  
  
Okay Al might be a little fond.

But that was neither here nor there! His brother was- oh he was being touched, Edward was about to break a man in half. 

He was about to intervene when he felt Nikko’s hand at his waist give a small squeeze. 

“Watch.” Was all he said, and though he had to fight every single instinct to do so, Al watched. 

Moments before disaster struck (Al had seen it enough times to know all the tells, even before his brother had flat ears and a twitching tail. He was much more intimidating now though with those little fangs.) a gentleman (And Al knew this as well, because the cats in the shop had  _ flocked  _ to him to avoid pretty much everyone else!) stepped forward from the line and grabbed the rude customer’s arm, yanking him back in the kindest way Alphonse had ever seen.

“Excuse me, sir, but I don’t believe he’s one of the cats that can be pet here. You’d do best to keep your hands to yourself around another person. Regardless of how cute they may be.”

  
  
Oho? Al’s ears were perked.

He watched as his brother’s ears perked up, even though the grimace was still on his mouth and his right hand was still a creaking metal fist. 

“Who do you think you are? You don’t work here! You can’t tell me what to do or how to act! I can do as I please!” Al felt his own ears flatten at that. How rude!

  
  
The gentleman customer only smiled, Al couldn’t even smell any anger or irritation.

“The only thing you have right there is that I don’t currently work here,” currently, huh, “aside from that, you should be extending societal norms to these fine folk here as well. You aren’t the ruler of the world, and we are not your subjects.” Gentleman Customer turned dark eyes toward Edward briefly before turning back to the Rude Customer, “Besides, I believe I just saved you a trip to the hospital. You should say thank you.”

The Rude Customer made various sounds of outrage while Edward hurriedly pushed the man’s coffee onto the counter nearer his hands.

“The bastards right, so why don’t you get the hell out of here and keep on livin’ another day.” The growl beneath the words was audible, his eyes were full slits and Al could only sigh as his dear elder brother called the nice gentleman a bastard. He would let it slide today though, he hadn’t lost his cool on the rude one!

  
  
Said Rude Customer made a big fuss that clearly no one was listening to as he snatched his cup and stalked out of the building, Alphonse’s precious kittens hissing at him on the way. 

He watched as Edward slowly looked up at the Gentleman customer, “Thanks...I guess. Saved me a lawsuit probably…”

  
  
The Gentleman seemed pleased, even though he had just been called a bastard not even moments before, “Oh, don’t mention it. I can’t stand to see kind people be mistreated because some asshole thinks they’re better than everyone else.”    
  


He felt Nikko squeeze his hip again. He could just feel a bet coming on.

Edward shrugged, “People have thought they’ve owned me damn near my entire life, less and less get away with it. What can I make for you. I can feel my little brother’s eyes searing into my skull so it’ll be on the house.” 

Good, he at least managed to drill  _ some  _ manners into that thick skull.

“Oh no I couldn’t possibly, how about, instead I offer an application.” Oh he was turning on charm too, Al could feel it from here.

“What do you wanna bet,” Nikko turned and whispered right into Al’s ear, “this ends up in a date.”

  
  
Al turned sparkling eyes to his wolf and barely contained his grin, “Oh it absolutely will if I have any say in it.”

  
  
In the meantime, Edward’s head tilted, “An application? Like, to work here?” 

  
  
Let it be known that, against the evidence shown, his big brother actually  _ was _ smart. He just got confused around people he found attractive. Al knew he found Gentleman Customer attractive too. Just as much as Edward knew him, Alphonse knew Edward even better. 

Gentleman Customer’s smile was reminiscent of one of Nikkos.

Wolfish. 

“Exactly so!”

  
  
Edward’s eyebrow quirked up, “What the hell? Why would you want to work here?” He was accepting the proffered piece of paper that supposedly had an application on it though, so he was interested.

“Other than the fact it’s a nice place and I’d get to smell coffee all day? I like cats but i’m not allowed to keep any, and I think i’ve grown attached to at least three of the strays here already.” His smile turned soft on the edges and Al knew his brother was secretly melting. Edward leaned a little over the counter to see that there were indeed a couple of very cuddly strays claiming Gentleman Customer’s legs as their own. 

He tried to keep a grumpy face but the slight sway to his tail betrayed him, “I mean...it’s not my call but i’ll talk to the owner, maybe we can get you a trial basis...it’s the least I could do.”

  
  
Al valiantly managed to keep his scoff tucked very nearly in. As if that right there alone wasn’t a shining, golden recommendation.

“I’m gonna need a name though...and...and an order.” Oh his brother was flushed!! Al’s tail twitched happily and he lightly smacked Nikko’s arm in giddy excitement, looking up at him with pure delight. Nikko’s hand came up to pet through his hair, and...yeah okay Al was all melty purrs.

“Roy, I think you’ll also find you’ve got my phone number as well. You should also know I’m not only amenable to business calls.” Oh that was flirting! They were flirting!

  
  
Edward’s blush got deeper, “I’ll..remember that.” 

Oh Al was going to tease Edward beyond teasing later. After closing up shop...and making sure Nikko made it home safely. (Safety in numbers. Al didn’t like that the other lived pretty far from the shop. He couldn’t be there for the morning walk, but he and Edward had made it routine to walk him home, even if he insisted he didn’t need it. Edward even pretended to be distracted by other things while they said their goodbyes! Which was sometimes little more than a little nuzzle, maybe a kiss. But even still! Al wanted the people he loved close…)

  
  
It was only after they had returned home, locked the store up tight and their home even tighter, both curled together in a living room nest decompressing did Al remember to begin his teasing.

“So, Mr. Roy huh?” Anyone else wouldn’t have been able to hear him past his little jet engine esque purring, but Edwards was well attuned to him.

Which meant he groaned dramatically and nuzzled into Al’s hair, “Don’t even start, nothing happened!!”

  
  
“No? But I saw flirting, Brother! Are you going to message him? What does his application look like? Do you think he’ll fit in?” Pretend its about business!

  
  
Ed sees right through him with a huff, “Looks fine to me...figured we could give a week, see if we all get along. It might be nice having someone at least  _ seemingly  _ human working.” 

  
  
“Seemingly human?” Al wiggled around to look his brother in the eye, it was a little hard when Ed was in a mood and demanded to be a big spoon. (Which was almost always, at least with Al.)    


  
He gave a lame shrug and refused to look Al in the eye, but there was still a telltale flush, “I dunno, seems too good to be true I guess. Yknow? Charming, kind, seems smart and trust worthy from what I saw. Dunno what the hell he’d want working here. Even part time, even for the cats. It’s not like you wouldn’t allow adoption.”

  
  
Al gave his brother a gentle nuzzle, “He can’t have them in his building, and …. Brother… people can be kind for no other reason than to be kind… I know… we haven’t had the best luck but… I know it to be true. People are inherently kind.” 

Ed sighed and held onto Al tighter, “I… really hope you’re right Al, I really do.”

  
  
Al knew he was. People were kind, and their luck had been looking up ever since they got this shop. Getting the shop, the cats, Nikko and now Roy. Al had hope, he  _ believed  _ it would work, that this would be good.

And in the end, Alphonse Elric was never wrong.


End file.
